I've always though Aspirin was a deprecated drug but lately I've heard reports from people who claim it's the only thing that helps their arthritis or other issues. Maybe there is something behind it.
Aspirin deprecated? It's one of the most useful and most widespread in use drug on the planet - for far more than "arthritis". It's the WD-40 of drugs. Ah, it's even in TFA:
"Aspirin, which is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, is one of the most widely used medications in the world. It is used to treat pain, fever and inflammation, and an estimated 29 million people in the U.S. take it daily to reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases."
Its been years since I've seen any bottles or packs of full dose Aspirin in a pharmacy here (Singapore). Seems like nowadays you can only get those low-dose tablets for blood thinning and they cost a fortune (compared to generic Panadol or what normal Aspirin used to cost)
I moved to Asia and suddenly found it nearly impossible to get full strength Aspirin. Kind of frustrating as it seems to be the somewhat less harmful NSAID.
Some research later, I found that it possibly interacts with certain bacteria that cause stomach ulcers and that these bacteria are more likely to be in poorly stored food. So, street food basically. This is a risk factor that would be much lower back home in Europe.
I wasn't able to get a definitive answer on this, but it's the best one I found so far as to why Aspirin is common in Europe and almost totally absent in Asia.
I take a pill of ibuprofen every once in a while when I have a bad headache, and paracetamol-based drugs only as a last resort when I have a bad cold or similar.
Same here, aspirin is as accessible as ibuprofen and paracetamol. I’ve switched away from it for the odd pain management, but mostly because I get nosebleeds easily, and aspirin is not helpful then.
Ah, my bad. So, could look for "acetylsalicylic acid + caffeine" combos from brands other than Bayer. Except if there's some special legal restriction for acetylsalicylic acid in Singapore.
Hm, now that you mention it, it's not common to see Aspirin here in the drug stores. Apparently you can buy low dosage Aspirin online but the regular dosage seems elusive. I'll ask in the pharmacy next time...
I love to see some info like this and want to share my experiences.
I'm a fan of small-molecule, well-tolerated, out-of-patent (cheap), widely available pharms like this in the class of "maintenance" and "enhancement" rather than "acute therapy" (although there is cross-over: i.e, have an acute headache? aspirin helps).
Some things in my list right now: acetylcysteine, aspirin, metformin
Besides aspirin, I don't take these regularly. And these days I take aspirin less and less, because I found I don't need it any more and I built up a healthy routine anyway.
In general I think eating right (lots of vegetables), good microbiome, plant medicine (for example turmeric (with milk and black pepper) black seed / nigella sativa as seeds or oil), and exercise are better than pharmaceuticals for general enhancement and maintenance of health--but there are some really good pharmaceuticals.
Everyone's body is different to some extent tho, and bodies change over time (for eg, gene expression changes over time), so what works for you might change over time.
This isn't medical advice, consult your doc, but here's other things I think a worth a shot (worked for me in the past) in limited doses:
piracetam - for building new brain cells, and increasing oxygen and decreasing blood viscosity
pentoxifylline - for de-aging your vascular system
fexofenadine - great for me for pollen allergies, and generalized severe inflammation (ie, say you had a really stressful thing)
doxycycline - good antibiotic in small dose but can have some weird side effects in some people, or if taken for long time, but strangely it also help with tissue repair.
fluorometholone - great in eye drop for itchy eyes, also instantly reduces brain inflammation / headache, and chills you out--for me at least--after dropping a couple drops in each eye--but use sparingly as it's a strong corticosteroid so you don't want to dampen the immune system in your sinuses etc as that will lead to infection!
In general I have the view that all pharams and most plant medicines are "toxins" (on some level, at some dose obviously, but in general too) in the sense that there's very few things which are just uniformly healthy in the class of drugs--yet nevertheless there are some wonder drugs like these that I think can be really enhancing to health if used right.
After a couple years taking aspirin at low dose regularly, I started noticing I no longer needed it. That coincided with me adopting a regular meditation/energy work/ some yoga practice.
Currently on my to-try list is: ashwagandha
Please exercise caution in your exploring -- some of what works for me might even be dangerous for you--everyone is different!! :) ;p xx ;p
If you're interested in ashwaganda for its effects on GABA in the brain, you may be interested in these other molecules as well.
So to compare Ashwagnda to Benzos/L-Theanine/Apigenin, here's how they work.
Ashwaganda - has compounds called withanolides that bind to GABA receptors & increase GABA release. Very similar to how benzos bind to GABA receptors.
L-Theanine - increases GABA release
Apigenin - increases GABA activity, but more so supercharges the existing GABA activity by binding to other non-GABA receptors. Careful with this one as it can really lower blood pressure though.
But before messing with GABA directly, I'd also highly recommend trying out Magnesium Threonate, as this particular Mg can cross the blood brain barrier and has fantastic effects. It's a bit of a do-all as it's a cofactor for about 80% of the chemical reactions in the body, but being able to cross the BBB is a huge benefit to mental health.
Regarding plants that are toxins on some level, I believe you're referring to some plants that do have a hormetic effect on the body. In small amounts, they are actually beneficial since they activate a variety of counter mechanisms, so the net effect is more positive than had they not been consumed at all.
Thank you, I wasn't caring about GABA specifically, but interesting! I know Pu-Er tea also affects GABA. I appreciate your info on these! :)
What's hormetic? I'll look it up. Actually I think I just meant things like: if you eat too much of any plant medicine, or take something too regularly, it's not going to be good, normally--especially for maintenance and enhancement... I mean, too much of something! :P ;xx ;p :)
PS - I meant ashwaganda in its adaptogen / stress lowering / cortisol response / cortisol lowering effect. Thank you! :) ;p xx ;p
For a while it was recommended that older folks take a daily baby aspirin to lower their risk of ischemic heart attacks and strokes due to aspirin's function as a mild blood thinner. Large studies have shown the increased risk of hemorrhagic stroke offsets the benefits to ischemia and now taking a daily baby aspirin is not recommended except in certain cases.
Aspirin still has many uses and long term use is associated with other positive outcomes, like lower cancer risk.
Aspirin and other NSAID were supposed to go the way of the dinosaurs. COX2 inhibitors we’re supposed to be the golden child. Too bad it caused kidney and liver damage
As far as I know, aspirin is the one NSAID that doesn't potentially raise risks of heart attacks or strokes. Other drugs also can be hard on the liver and kidneys.
TBF it literally does the opposite, even in countries which have (culturally?) switched away from aspirin as an analgesic, it’s still in use as a blood thinner for stroke prevention and management.
I know a lot of doctors recommend ibuprofen over aspirin because ibuprofen is perceived to be a safer NSAID. I'm not sure if it's actually safer in adults or only in children though.
GI side effects in general and bleeding in particular are higher in analgesic dose level of aspirin. Aspirin is a very blunt instrument - it is both anti-inflammatory and anti-thrombotic - it destroys your platelet function even in low doses - this can be a feature/benefit (ie stroke and coronary artery disease or MI) - but for pure analgesia it usually just means increasing bleeding risk for no benefit.
I don't believe this is a meaningful risk for a healthy person just taking a few aspirin. Certainly you don't want to consume too much (like all medicines) nor use it chronically (unless the alternative risks are worse).
The problem with acetaminophen is that the dangerous dose is not much higher than the recommended dose for a subset of the population. There are people who can die if they only take a few extra... and since it has a reputation as a safe drug, people don't think twice about taking extra.
This is so strange to me. I would never in a million years go beyond the recommended dosage without consulting a doctor. But I now realize that's just me, and if we can offer safer drugs that won't be as harmful if people exceed the dosage, so much the better.
Searching for "antipyretic prolong pubmed" turns up some good trailheads. Seems like consensus is that fever is likely beneficial and routine suppression is probably not supported by evidence. There's conflicting data on whether suppressing fever delays recovery.
Suppressing the fever is more like significantly undervolting your CPU because the heat output of your gaming computer makes your room uncomfortably warm. Sure your room isn't too hot anymore, but the CPU needed that power to do useful work, and it's possible it won't be able to keep up with what you need anymore.
I guess theres always a caveat, but fevers can get too high and go for too long, in which case reducing the fever might be a good idea. But if it gets to that point, you should be working with a doctor to make those decisions.
This is a misnomer though. Your body will not make the fever too high in the case of fighting a virus, so danger is low. From an evolutionary standpoint this would make no sense. For a bacterial infection I think the chance of going to the danger zone is higher though.
Typically it's better to just let the fever ride when you have a virus, unless it's making you you so uncomfortable you can't rest/sleep.
